Guam
Basics Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are territories of the United States that are not part of the 50 core states. They share some things with the mainland like the country code +1 and their currency is US$. But they also have some significant differences with the mainland, such as having additional visa waiver countries, and more importantly their own independent cellphone networks. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (in short CNMI) is connected to Guam and mostly the same cellular networks operate here. Major US network operators such as AT&T or T-Mobile have no operations here, and consider these islands to be "international" with high roaming charges, or no roaming at all. Instead, there are 4 GSM operators available on prepaid: * DoCoMo Pacific '(owned by NTT DoCoMo in Japan) * '''GTA '''Teleguam * '''iConnect '''Advanced * '''IT&E '(mostly CDMA) Cellular coverage is on US-American frequencies: '''2G on 1900 MHz, 3G on 850 MHz and 1900 MHz and 4G/LTE has started on 700 MHz (B12/17) and 1700 MHz (B4). CDMA and GSM systems still co-exist like in the US. DoCoMo Pacific DoCoMo Pacific (formerly called Guam Wireless) offers 2G service on 1900 MHz, 3G/UTMS on 850 MHz, and 4G/LTE on 700 MHz (B17). Coverage is on Guam, Saipan, Rota, and Tinian: Coverage map. Availability Their prepaid SIM cards are sold in DoCoMo stores (locations) as part of a starter kit for $19.95 which includes $10 credit. Top-up vouchers called prepaid cards can be bought in increments of $5, $10, and $20, and top-ups can be done by credit card as well. To load a prepaid recharge card, type *111*#. To check balance, enter *112*# to get a text reply. Data rates Default data rate is $0.10 per MB. These prepaid plans are offered including unlimited local voice and text and a data quota: For activation text code to 3282. In addition, there is a $1 monthly "E911" fee for emergency services to be deducted from the balance. Service is deactivated when reaching $0 balance, so better to keep a dollar or two on the account to prevent this. About 12 hours prior to expiration of selected service, you will receive a message: "Y''our subscription to service will expire in 12 hours. If you do not wish to auto-renew your subscription at that time, please reply with "NO" now." For more data you can add these bundles: * 250 MB: $ 1 * 500 MB: $ 6 * 1 GB: 10 * 3 GB: $ 25 These add-ons expire with your current base plan. To activate text 'top up' to 3282. To check your data balance text 'DATA' to 3282. '''Tourist SIM' In 2018 DoCoMo Pacific introduced a Visitor SIM aimed at tourists. It's sold at $25 and includes 7 GB data, unlimited local calls and SMS, 15 mins calls to US, Japan, S. Korea, Taiwan, China and Russia and unlimited access to all DoCoMo WiFi hotspots on the island (see below), all valid for 7 days. To activate text 7 to 8687. To connect to the WiFi network open your web browser and you will be automatically redirected to the WiFi portal, select the Prepaid card icon and enter the PIN on the back of the Visitor SIM. WiFi passes DoCoMo Pacific has a network of WiFi hotspots on Guam (locator). For these it sells WiFi passes purchased by credit card online and prepaid vouchers sold locally: * for 24 hours: $ 8 * for 3 days: $ 18 * for 5 days: $ 25 To log on or purchase a pass visit this website. More info * APN: internet * Website: http://www.docomopacific.com GTA '''Teleguam GTA Teleguam was formerly called Pulse Mobile. They cover only the island of Guam and not Saipan or elsewhere: Coverage Map, but are planning to cover the CNMI soon too. In 2015 they were sold to Indonesian Telkom. They offer '''2G and 3G/HSPA on 850 MHz and 1900 MHz and since 2013 4G/LTE on 1700 MHz (B4). Coverage on Guam is considered to be on par with DoCoMo with 95% covered by LTE in Guam. Availability Their SIM starter kits provide 3-in-1 (mini-SIM with removable micro-SIM and nano-SIM) and top-ups are sold at official GTA stores in populated areas (locator) and also on the US Air Force and Naval bases. In almost every town they are sold at most markets and also some other retail stores. Typical start-up costs are around $15-20, but come loaded with "5 days free" usage. Sometimes these starter kits can be obtained for a discount when loaded immediately. To check balance, type *488# and choose 1 on menu. Credit expires soon after top-up unless extended by another top-up, which extends the validity of all credit: $0.01 - $9.00 for 15 days, $9.01 - $19.00 for 30 days, and $19.01 and up for 60 days. Top-ups can be bought as vouchers of size $5, $10, $20 or $50; or via credit card by *488# choosing 2 on menu. Data rates Default data rate is $0.10 per MB. Daily and monthly plans are also offered with few data options as most plans are differentiated by their voice and SMS provided. You can buy daily plans for $0.50 to $2 per that don't include data, but stay on the $0.10 per MB default rate instead. Only the $3 daily plan gives "unlimited" (with an unclear FUP) data for 24 hours. These monthly plans are sold with data, some local minutes and unlimited local texts: To activate a plan, call *488# and choose 3 on menu. After quota has been consumed, default rate applies. More info * APN: mpulse.GTA.net * Website: http://www.gta.net iConnect Advanced iConnect took over Motorola's mobile radio network in Guam and Saipan and later added Tinian and Rota to the network. Compared to DoCoMo or GTA it still has a more limited network and no 2G coverage and runs an incompatible iDEN network instead. Its GSM-based 3G/HSPA+ is on 1900 MHz 3G coverage map. 4G/LTE started in 2014 on 700 MHz (B12) in Guam 4G coverage map. Availability Their triple-cut SIM card called iConnect Advanced 4G SIM is sold in their stores (locator) for $15 with a minimal balance. You can top-up by credit card or vouchers. Expiry dates for the load cards are 30 days for $10 and $20, and 15 days for $5 from the day you reload your SIM Card. Service shall be permanently disconnected if the subscriber fails to load within 90 days after the last card balance is consumed. When a subscriber’s balance falls below $0.50, he/she will not be able to make or receive cellular calls except 911 emergency calls, until such time that the subscriber successfully loads an iConnect prepaid Load Card before permanent disconnection. Data rates They offer a daily plan for $2.25 with "unlimited" local calls and texts and 4G data. To subscribe text 'ALLIN ON' to 500. It will auto-renew every night at 3am. To stop, text 'ALLIN OFF' to 500. The FUP is not specified. For data only, they offer these packages to be booked on their prepaid plan: * $ 1.50: DATADAY - "unlimited" data for 1 day until 3am * $ 10: DATAWEEK - "unlimited" data for 7 days * $ 35: DATAMONTH - "unlimited" data for 30 days Data on 4G/LTE is up to 21 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload. To activate text " ON" to 500. The daily pack auto-renews at 3am until stopped by "DATADAY OFF" to 500. The weekly and monthly packages don't auto-renew and you'll get a message 2 days prior to expiration. All "unlimited" data use is subject to their "acceptable use policy", that is not specified, but gives at least some GBs of data without restrictions. More info * APN: ican /or/ internet * Website: http://www.iconnectguam.com * Their products are sold to be delivered to your hotel by 'Guam Prepaid' for a steep surcharge: http://www.guamprepaid.com IT&E Wireless IT&E Wireless is a cellular company, that started in the CNMI as MTC and on Guam as PTI. It also runs the submarine cable between these islands and cellular networks on Guam, Saipan, Tinian and Rota. Their network is currently migrating from the CDMA-standard which is not compatible to GSM devices, while they have some GSM coverage too. In 2014, they started 4G/LTE coverage on 700 MHz (B12) available for both systems. Note that you wont have fall back to 2G or 3G based on GSM and need to have a band 12 enabled LTE device for their 4G network. Availability You can get the GSM 4G/LTE SIM card in one of their stores (locations). The IT&E SIM card is for $19.95 with a free $10 load. Top-up is made by credit and debit cards online or by reload vouchers sold locally for $5, $10 or $2. Check balance by *87, to top-up by voucher text 'LOAD ' to 2931. Talk, text & data plans For talk, text and data on smartphones they sell daily and weekly plans: * $ 1.50 per day: 100 MB data, unlimited local talk and text, activation: Plan 100MB * $ 2 per day: 200 MB data, unlimited local talk and text and long distance to the US, activation: Plan 200MB * $ 2.50 per day: 1 GB data, unlimited local talk and text and long distance to the US, activation: Plan 1GB * $ 12 per week: 200 MB data, unlimited local talk and text, activation: Plan 7D For activation text code to 3282. For more data you can add: * 100 MB for $ 1 by texting '100MB' to 3282 * 1 GB for $ 10 by texting '1GB' to 3282 All daily and weekly plans auto-renew. To cancel your plan text 'CANCEL' to 3282. Data-only plans Their mobile broadband data packages are called "Motion Broadband": * 500 MB for 7 days: $ 5 * 1 GB for 7 days: $ 10 * 3 GB for 7 days: $ 20 * 10 GB for 14 days: $ 50 Activation and management is online through mydata.ite.net Data will be shut off when depleted or elapsed. Tourist SIM For visitors to Guam and CNMI they sell two different "Hafa Adai" SIM kits. They include a 4G/LTE SIM card that comes with unlimited local talk, text and 4G/LTE data. They also come with $10 of long distance airtime to make calls to anywhere in the world: * for 4 days: $ 20 * for 7 days: $ 30 Hafa Adai kits can be purchased at the IT&E Stores in the Micronesia Mall, Guam Premiere Outlets and Andersen Airforce Exchange Services (AAFES). They can also be purchased at any Shell or 76 gas stations. The SIM will automatically deactivate and can't be extended or used after the plan expires. More info * APN for prepaid: prepaid.ite.net * APN for mobile broadband: internet.ite.net * Website: http://www2.ite.net/ Category:Oceania Category:Country Category:CDMA Category:10/18